3 star restaurants - history and recommendations

[lizziee]

La Pyramide is a 2 star, L'Oustau is a 2 star, Le Moulin is also a two star ( it was down to one, but it just got its second this year)

La Pere Bise, I think is a one star and I definitely know that the other two are not three stars, but I am not sure they are still in existence or their Michelin ranking.

[Bux]

What was the publication date of that book and are you interested in the chefs themselves or only of the restaurant? L'Oasis is not an uncommon name for a restaurant, but I'm pretty sure the one below is the one you want.

Restaurant de la Pyramide (Vienne)

The late Fernand Point is the legendary chef who put Vienne on the map with his restaurant. Currently back up to 2 stars under Patrick Henriroux

Charles Barrier (Tours)

Currently 1 star. Current chef is Hervé Lussault

L'Auberge du Pere Bise (Talloires not far fron Annecy)

Still owned and operated by the famility of the now deceased Bise. Currently 1 star.

L'Oasis (La Napoule)

L'Oasis is not an uncommon name for a restaurant, but I'm pretty sure the one below is the one you want. If I'm not mistaken, the orignal chef was Louis Outhier, or at least he's the one who brought fame to the location. Two brothers, Stéphane & François Raimbault, are chef and pastry chef now. Currently 2 stars.

L'Oustau de Baumaniere (near Les Baux-en-Provence)

Currently 2 stars. Current chef is Jean-André Charial who is, I believe, a grandson of the chef who earned the 3 stars.

Le Moulin de Mougins (in Mougins)

Currently 2 stars. Roger Vergé is still the chef

[robert brown]

Mike, all still exist, but L'Oasis, Charles Barrier and Pyramide have different ownership. Moulin de Mougins is still owned by Roger Verge. Baumaniere is owned by the grandson of the founder, Raymond Thuillier, and Pere Bise is owned by the widow and daughter of Francois Bise. None have three stars. Baumaniere has two stars; Mougins got a second star back this year; Barrier has one; L'Oasis has two; Pere Bise has one; and Pyramde, two. Great Chefs of France is a marvelous book and Exhibit No. One as to what extraordinary times the 1970s (and 1980s) were for dining in France.

[Jon Tseng]

where did you find the book? have been trying to track down a copy for some time

presume it was 2nd hand?

j

[mikeczyz]

thank you all for your replies.

i found my copy in a used bookstore here in the northern california area. fantastic book, and i encourage you all to do whatever necessary to acquire a copy. and yes, the l'oasis i was looking for was run by outhier. after reading this book, i am truly amazed by the range of personalities and viewpoints each chef had. all were truly distinctive. thanks again for the info.

mike

p.s. where did you do your research to answer my question? do you all own a copy of the michelin guide?

[cabrales]

I bought the book during the past 1-2 years, used, on the Web. For example, Chapitre has some selections, as does BN.

[Steve Klc]

Robert--you took the words right out of my mouth. This book is a must-have and for many chefs and foodies was their very first insight into serious cuisine--haute cuisine. It was the first time many young American cooks had seen Michelin 3 star menus reproduced or heard the stories--excellent narrative tales and characters realized in the book. The book remains an incredible, unsurpassed single volume achievement. (Yes, Bux, that means you have a hole in your library that needs to be filled by hook or by crook.) When I was cooking in my first restaurant, back in 1982, the owner took me to a used bookstore and bought me this book for $10. No $10. spent has ever had as much influence or reward.

[Bux]

p.s.  where did you do your research to answer my question? do you all own a copy of the michelin guide?

Doesn't everyone have a copy of the red Guide Michelin?

I'm kidding of course, but if you spend enough time and money in France, it's invaluable. It's also cheaper if purchased in France, although if you want to plan your trip, it may not pay to wait to buy it. These days we tned to update our copy every year. I'll also admit to a slight addiction to the GaultMillau guide as well.

As for the research, I suspect both Robert and Lizziee responded from personal knowledge and I'll admit to checking a few things on the web. I use Google. As I noted l'Oasis is a common enough name for a restaurant and remembering Outhier, or at least La Napoule, would be helpful in finding the references to check.

Steve, I can't really say I have a library. Now my son-in-law has what I'd call a library, but it's mostly in French. Whenever we buy a great book, I give it to him so it has good company.

[cabrales]

mike -- If you did not have the Red Guide in hard copy, but knew that, for example Pyramide is at Vienne, you could use the Web version, in English, of the Michelin search engine and determine the number of stars.

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr...N5J3KDZLIBMYWVA

Note that another significant use of the Red Guide, apart from general star indications, is the listing of a few more known dishes of the restaurant. For example, for Pyramides, here are the indicated specialties: "'Moelleux de dormeurs' [this is a type of crab] with raw artichoke. Veal cutlet with vegetables from the valley. Chocolate praline piano in "ut"."

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr...1&id=F38101I012

Note that the hard copy Red Guide has certain advantages the on-line search engine does not. Near the front of the guide (and similarly near the front of the G-M), there are maps of certain regions within France showing how many stars the most highly-rated restaurant in certain towns/villages have. This facilitates trip planning, particularly when combined with the SNCF website, the Michelin driving directions feature (which furnishes estimated driving times) and the Relais & Chateaux maps (which show Relais Gourmand facilities with a red marking).

[Damian]

Just to be clear, this is the Anthony Blake and Quentin Crewe book first published in the late 1970s?

[lizziee]

You can find the book at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/bo...1862134-8739001

[Bux]

The most glaring fault in the Michelin web site is the lack of a map with stars. "Fault" might be too strong a word as the site is not meant to give you reason not to buy the book. It's also a shame one can't look up restaurants by name--at least I can't. Has anyone found a way to do that? One needs to know the city to do a search for a restaurant or hotel. Thus one can look for places in Toulouse, and Auch but not in the general region of Gascony. All in all, the web site is not that useful for planning a trip unless you know the towns in which you want to stop.

The directions for driving are excellent however. My wife downloaded all sorts of alternate routes for a recent trip and we had them at hand for last minute decisions on routing depending on how much time we had.

[lizziee]

Bux,

Once you have your driving directions, Michelin will list the towns on the way to your destination and also note if there is lodging or restaurants there. You can then click on the town and they list both restaurants and lodging according to category ie luxury or by stars.

I still use my red quide, however, and couldn't do without it.

[Bux]

lizziee,

The problem is that we only ask for point to point driving instructions over short distances. Our routes never really go anywhere in the long term and I'd go way off the straight route for a better restaurant when we cover long distances. I need to be aware of the restaurants before I can ask for driving instructions.

[lizziee]

Bux,

You are right about that. The red guide, in that case, is the only answer. I was thinking along these lines. We are driving from Lyon to Annecy - I will put that in, in a general sense and see what towns they list - fast route, scenic route, route rec. by Michelin. Then see what might be in the vicinity that looks interesting.

[jordyn]

In addition to providing a listing of restaurants within a given town, the website also lets you show restaurants within a certain distance of the place. If the resulting list is too long, you can narrow it by specifying other characteristics (such as number of stars).

This won't let you search on an area quite as broad as Gascony, but it does allow a look at the surrounding area for your starting and ending points on any given day.

[Bux]

jordyn, my problem is that I don't know where my ending point will be until I've found the restaurant in which I want to have dinner.

liziee, the red guide is required at times. The web site is useful at times. It led us to a hotel in Roses by a process of elimination. The friends we were meeting, have a dog. There are fewer hotels in Spain that are as dog friendly as in France. It also led us to a good place to stay in Lloret de Mar, although it failed to warn how little we would like the town. I guess we already had an inkling about the restaurants in which we wanted to eat and none of them were connected to hotels or even had interesting places to stay in town. Nevertheless, even with most of our reservations made, we bought the latest red guide to Spain when we got there.

[anil]

In a blind test, I'd be unable to distinguish between 2 & 3 stars. Having said that, L'oasis ,in my only visit there was quite impressive. Maybe it was the company that I had -- the service was too attentive, to a level a distraction

[Bux]

anil, it may not be your inability to distinguish between a two and a three star restaurant, but the ability of some two star restaurants to serve a better meal than some three star restaurants, that's the factor here. Good service should almost go unnoticed. Too much service can be annoying especially when it calls attention to itself.

[Damian]

You can find the book at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/bo...1862134-8739001

Thanks lizziee,

I'm sure I can find the book using Amazon's search function - I just wanted to ensure that it was the correct book I was finding. Blake and Crewe, correct?

[robert brown]

Damian, that's the one. I hope you can find a copy.

[cabrales]

In a blind test, I'd be unable to distinguish between 2 & 3 stars. Having said that,  L'oasis ,in my only visit there was quite impressive. Maybe it was the company that  I had -- the service was too attentive, to a level a distraction 

anil -- In a blind test of the "best" (recognizing this is subjective) three star to the "best" two star (leaving aside J-M Lorain, O Roellinger -- not yet sampled, and E Loubet), I think one would be able to distinguish. There is significant range within each category, sadly. Plus, how could one conduct a "blind test" if one knew, as general knowledge, which restaurants were three stars?

[Damian]

Just ordered a first edition in fine condition w/ dust cover from Alibris, thanks all - am looking forward to this one.

[mikeczyz]

while we're on the topic of old books, anybody wanna chime in on fernand point's ma gastronomie? is it worth finding? what kinds of things does he talk about?

mike

[Jon Tseng]

I've seen an English translation running around in Books for Cooks in London, though not last time (so presumably there's a fairly modern print of it out)

remember being distinctly underwhelmed every time i leafed through though (don't have specifics - just remember general ennui)

cheerio

j